Bridging the Divide between Architecture and Code

Static diagrams on wikis and white-boards might capture the vision of architects, but they don’t much help programmers to understand how the code they’re working on right now fits into the architecture. Nor are the programmers warned when they violate the diagrams as they forge changes, line-by-line.

This is a huge problem – it is ultimately individual lines of code that make or break an architecture; and we know that a clean architecture will help teams develop a more flexible product, with less complexity, less wasted effort, etc. Worse, without practical architectural guidance, programmers wrestle with invisible structures that emerge from thousands of inter-dependent lines of code.

And being invisible, these structures become ever more complex, coupled, and tangled. In fact, uncontrolled structure actively fights against productive development.This talk shows how to rein in emergent code-base structures and gradually transform them into a cogent, defined architecture. You will see how…

Divide between Architecture and Code

Visualizing the emergent structure makes a code-base easier to understand.

Restructuring to remove tangles and reduce coupling makes the visualized code-base easier to work on.

Specifying layering and dependency rules converts good structure into a controlled architecture that guides the team as the code-base evolves and grows.

A key ingredient is a live visualization, inside the IDE, of the detailed code the programmer is working on, in the context of the overall architecture. In short, you will learn how bridging the architect/programmer divide can convert code-base structure from liability into an asset that actively works for development productivity.

Der Vortrag findet in englischer Sprache statt!

Der Sprecher

Chris Chedgey, is co-founder, product designer, and developer at Structure101 – a team dedicated to creating techniques and technology for transforming and controlling the structure of large evolving code-bases. During a career spanning 30 years, Chris also worked on large military and aerospace systems in Europe and Canada, including the International Space Station. He has spoken at many user groups and conferences including Oredev, JavaOne, JAX, Javaland, 33rd Degree, JFocus, and Devoxx.